The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between cultural values, social norms, and beliefs related to co-sleeping with the sleeping arrangements of first generation Chinese immigrants in Canada. The participants were 162 first generation Chinese immigrants from four Canadian cities who had children ranging from 2 months to 71 months (M = 37.9, SD = 18.06). Participants completed a questionnaire measuring their cultural values and beliefs, value of parenting roles and family, value of romantic relationships, and beliefs of sleeping arrangements. Parents indicated their sleeping arrangements (i.e. where child slept and with whom the child slept). Participants were also asked to draw a picture of their bedroom(s) which indicated the location of the childs and/or parents bed, and the distance between the two beds. Results indicated that 77% Chinese parents in this study co-slept with their pre-school aged child, whereas only 23% parents let their child sleep in their own bedroom. Among the co-sleepers, half of the children slept in their parents bed, and half of them slept in their own bed, which was either attached to the parents bed or separated from the parents bed. The mean distance between the parents bed and the childs bed was 21.15cm (SD = 42.74) for co-sleeping families, and 502.8 cm (SD = 188.69) for solitary sleeping families. Using stepwise regression analysis, the relations between demographic factor, space availability, values, norms, and beliefs, on the one hand, and sleeping arrangements, on the other, were examined. Personal beliefs about sleeping arrangements, including cultural beliefs of independence and interdependence, beliefs of marital quality, and beliefs of solitary sleeping, influence sleeping arrangements. Parents length of residency in Canada, childs age, and bedroom numbers also influence sleeping arrangements. The findings have important implications for researchers and health professionals in terms of sleeping arrangements in the larger socio-cultural context.

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Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that breastfed newborns spend more time awake than bottle‐fed newborns, breastfeeding mothers have more fragmented sleep than bottle‐feeding mothers, and mother‐newborn sleeping arrangements may affect the sleep/wake pattern of mother‐newborn pairs. Objective: To address the unsolved question of whether there is an interaction between type of feeding and sleeping arrangements that affects postpartum sleep during the 4th postpartum week. Design: Correlational, two‐way design using feeding method and location of newborn at night as independent variables, and sleep patterns as the dependent variables.Setting: Patient's home during 4th week after giving birth. Patients/Participants: First‐time mothers and their newborns (n = 33). Main Outcome Measures: Amount of total sleep, amount of night sleep, number of night awakenings, and number of sleep periods in 24 hours using a modified version of the self‐report sleep instrument by Barnard and Eyres. Results: Breastfed newborns had less total sleep per day than bottle‐fed newborns, and breastfeeding mothers had more sleep periods in 24 hours than bottle‐feeding mothers. Breastfeeding mothers slept more than bottle‐feeding mothers when co‐sleeping, but bottle‐feeding mothers’ sleep was unaffected by location of newborn. Average total sleep for 4‐week‐old newborns was about 14 hours daily. Conclusions: More sleep was obtained when breastfeeding mothers slept with the newborn. Methods or devices that allow breastfeeding mothers and newborns to sleep next to each other in complete safety need to be developed.